Link Bar

...and this is what happens to it when you leave it folded on the sofa in your studio under the shelf where you often leave your tea...for months...because you haven't gotten around to finishing it yet...and then you open it up one day, thinking, perhaps this week, it will get finished...and find matching Rorschach stains of disaster.

...and this is what it looks like after you try to remove the stain.

Bleeding, rumpled, mess of ruined silk

Not a good day.

P.S. Just in case you think I'm completely mad for trying to remove the stain myself, after reading countless online tips for removing stains from silk, I did consult a dry cleaner, who was not at all willing to take the risk to remove it there as the entire thing is backed with fusible interfacing. But, here's the lesson learned from that - if there's red silk involved, perhaps have them just give it a try before dunking it in a tub of oxi-clean???

Oh my, did these ever take forever to finish! I had this idea back in September that I could make up a bunch of sets in time for December 1st, and I barely finished two sets by the last week of November!

Although I might not endeavor to make more in the future, I love how the two sets I did make came out. I used my Cricut to make fusible fabric numbers and they turned out perfectly. Here's a picture of what my cutting table looked like for the past few weeks!

For my first green and white version I used only upcycled and vintage fabrics, but for this one, I chose to use all new fabrics for the front. I found this wonderful, textured cotton that is very reminiscent of vintage flour sacks as well as some beautiful Kaffe Fassett shot cottons and a cotton called "Quilter's Linen" by Robert Kaufman (it looks textured like linen, but it's not!).

If you're wondering what the back looks like, well...I was a bit of a procrastinator as this quilt was due to be on display at New Pieces by today, so I literally cut the last threads, took a couple of photos and drove it down there, forgetting to photograph the back! I used the same ticking stripe for this one as for the green and white as well as some inset blue denim. I love it! I'm so excited about teaching the pattern, it's so much fun!

I love the beautiful vintage textiles used to create this entirely hand-sewn and quilted Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. This quilt has definitely been loved. Many of the white hexagons and some of the printed ones have shredded, but it's still in use!